Caption: Aurora borealis and the Milky Way. Band of the Milky Way in the night sky, next to the aurora borealis, a coloured light display (the northern lights) that is visible in the night sky at high latitudes. It occurs when charged and energetic particles from the Sun (the solar wind) are drawn by Earth's magnetic field to the polar regions. Hundreds of kilometres up, they collide with gas molecules and atoms, causing them to emit light. The aurora is reflected in the water in the foreground. Photographed in Namsos, Trondelag, Norway.